Critique for facial expression/figure drawing

https://sta.sh/01qtmex477x0

https://sta.sh/02ggmlu9x4qi

https://sta.sh/09oxh7kn3i3

These are 2-4 mins sketches. My goal right now is to draw facial expressions from imagination and draw/exaggerate poses based on reference photos.

Do you think my lines look messy in brush pen? I think brush pen makes shading and curved lines in quick drawing easier, but I don't know if I should use it for facial expressions.

Any other suggestion is also welcome, thanks!

I personally like the quick faces far more than the poses. Accurately capturing faces is one of the most difficult things for me and I think you've done a decent job.

I don't think your brush lines look messy per se, but to me the poses do seem a little stiff. Granted, the poses you've done may all be stationary so that's probably a big part of it.

I think you're on the right path and my suggestion is to just keep pushing forward; focus on capturing the basic essence of each pose or expression and then build upon that.

I recognize some of those faces :) the brush pen looks neat, harder to get delicate details but I like the brushy sketch look.

I think you’re getting some very expressive lines that remind me of Japanese prints and the brush work in classical painting from China and Japan. (Definitely seek this sort of thing out if you haven’t, it’s so much fun and very inspiring)

I love the use of brush pen and thick lines in these drawings. You manage to convey a lot of expressions, even with good line economy, and the poses are fluid. I particularly like the drawing of the man with a stick on the second page. The strength in the pose really shows through and the slight tilt of head adds a lot of character and confidence.

I notice that in some of these drawings, the hips are a little narrow. Perhaps a few full body studies or even studies of just the lower half would help if that's a problem you are seeing consistently.

Using brush pen gives you a lot of room to use line weight as part of the composition. I can see this is already coming into play a bit with the creation of shadows and deep patches of contrast so you clearly have a knack for the material.

Keep up the good work.